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Unitary Authorities

I am pleased to have the opportunity to contribute to the debate, to congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Mid-Norfolk (Mr. Simpson) on securing it and to endorse the last comments of my hon. Friend the Member for West Suffolk (Mr. Spring). He said that it is a mistake to think that big is necessarily better. That speaks directly to the points made by my constituency neighbour, the right hon. Member for Norwich, South (Mr. Clarke), when he adduced arguments of both cost and coherence. At least he had the grace to admit that there would be an up-front cost and that there was a discussion to be had about the payback period. That point was made by several of us in the previous debate on this issue. Indeed, I endorse the comments by my hon. Friend the Member for Mid-Norfolk about this feeling like a trip down memory lane. It reminds me of Yogi Berra, the baseball star of the New York Yankees, who said, ““This is like déjà vu all over again””, not just because the subject of the debate is local government, but because of the Minister who is responding to it. The first time that I came across him was in this Chamber, when he was again trying to defend the indefensible—the actions of another Secretary of State, the right hon. Member for Sheffield, Brightside (Mr. Blunkett), in relation to an adult training scheme. It seems to be his lot in life to have to go round picking up the pieces after various Ministers above him have made a complete mess of things. That was one of those cases of ““Never mind the quality, feel the width.”” Someone—perhaps it was even me—quoted Stalin, saying that quantity has its own quality. The headline in that case was that the 1 millionth individual learning account holder had been secured, never mind that there was fraud all over the place. In this case, I have my doubts about the argument of the right hon. Member for Norwich, South about size. After all, when he was trying to push through the police constabulary changes, it became apparent that one of the best constabularies was also one of the smallest—Gloucestershire. It had some of the best indicators in terms of value for money, but also in the degree of compliance with its key performance indicators and acceptance by the public.